Gill to captain India in first three ODIs in New Zealand, Iyer in the last two

India will have different captains for the two halves of its five-match one-day international series in New Zealand, according to squads announced on October 16, 2026. Shubman Gill will lead the team in the first three matches, with Shreyas Iyer as his deputy, and Iyer will captain the fourth and fifth, with Ishan Kishan as vice-captain, as reported by The Morung Express and The Sentinel.

The stated reasons

Both reports say the change reflects the short turnaround between the Test and ODI series against New Zealand. The Free Press Journal reports that Gill will skip the final two ODIs to focus on preparing for the Test series, that he will not join the India A shadow tour, and that he will use the break for red-ball preparation. It gives the date of the first Test as November 19 in Wellington.

The Morung Express and The Sentinel report that KL Rahul, Anshul Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna feature only in the first three ODIs, after which they prepare for the Test series. The reports do not describe this as rest.

The schedule

All five ODIs start at 7:30 am IST, according to the reports. The first is on November 4 at Eden Park in Auckland, the second on November 7 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, and the third on November 10 at Seddon Park in Hamilton. The fourth and fifth are on November 13 and 15 at Mount Maunganui. The Morung Express adds that a T20I series in New Zealand begins on October 22.

The squads

For the first three matches the squad is led by Gill and includes Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Iyer, Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kishan, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav.

For the last two matches, Tilak Varma and Auqib Nabi are added, and Kumar Kushagra and Yash Thakur receive their first ODI call-ups, according to The Sentinel and The Morung Express. Rohit and Kohli are available for the whole series.

Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are not recalled for the ODIs, the reports say; The Morung Express adds that Kumar is in the T20I series. Prasidh Krishna's place in the first phase remains subject to fitness and recovery from a left hamstring injury, both reports say.

What the reports do not say

The reports read attribute the two-captain arrangement to scheduling and Test preparation. They do not quote a BCCI statement explaining the decision, and do not say whether Gill will be rested from any other fixtures.